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Full Idea
If 'snow falls from the sky' is true iff it coheres with other beliefs, this is a form of idealism; snow could surely fall from sky even if there were no beliefs in the world to cohere with each other.
Gist of Idea
The coherence theory of truth implies idealism, because facts are just coherent beliefs
Source
Colin McGinn (Logical Properties [2000], Ch.5)
Book Ref
McGinn,Colin: 'Logical Properties' [OUP 2003], p.89
A Reaction
The coherence theory of truth strikes me as yet another blunder involving a confusion of ontology and epistemology. Of course, idealism may be true, but I have yet to hear a good reason why I should abandon commonsense realism.
| 5423 | If we suspend the law of contradiction, nothing will appear to be incoherent [Russell] |
| 5424 | Coherence is not the meaning of truth, but an important test for truth [Russell] |
| 5422 | More than one coherent body of beliefs seems possible [Russell] |
| 2766 | Even with a tight account of coherence, there is always the possibility of more than one set of coherent propositions [Dancy,J] |
| 6083 | The coherence theory of truth implies idealism, because facts are just coherent beliefs [McGinn] |
| 4745 | Any coherent set of beliefs can be made more coherent by adding some false beliefs [Engel] |
| 15334 | The coherence theory allows multiple coherent wholes, which could contradict one another [Horsten] |
| 19083 | How do you identify the best coherence set; and aren't there truths which don't cohere? [Young,JO] |